Mittal said that despite competition, both carriers have to come together to build a better ecosystem. They shook hands as well, with Mittal even giving Ambani a friendly pat.ET Bureau | Updated: September 28, 2017, 10:54 IST

Speaking at the India Mobile Congress in New Delhi on Wednesday, Mittal said that despite competition, both carriers have to come together to build a better ecosystem. They shook hands as well, with Mittal even giving Ambani a friendly pat.

“I hope with friends like Mukesh, we will build something in the future,” said the chairman of India’s largest telco. His quotes from William Wordsworth’s poem ‘The Prelude’ — ‘Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, But to be young was very heaven!’ — added to the mood.

Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, the parent of Jio, referred to Mittal as his “good friend” in his speech.

Mittal also acknowledged Ambani when he said that making India a leading telecom player has to be a joint effort.

“We all have to come together. While we compete head on for the benefit of customers, we have to collaborate among ourselves,” Mittal said, referring to how consortiums are running ecosystems, towers, fibres, submarine cables and even satellite projects. When Mittal mentioned the investments his company was making to improve infrastructure, he added, “Mukesh is putting up lot of investments” as well.

The camaraderie was a sharp contrast to the bitterness between the two rivals over the past year, not missing an opportunity to blame each other for misleading customers, misinterpreting laws, discriminating against subscribers and protesting to the authorities about issues such as points of interconnection, predatory pricing and interconnection usage charges.

It started when Jio entered the market last September with six months of free voice and data, which forced incumbents to lower their tariffs to retain customers. The low data tariffs offered by Jio from April triggered disputes over issues such as interconnection and data speeds. And now that the regulator has cut interconnection usage charges, telcos are alleging it was done to favour Jio, which it has denied.

The spirit of bonhomie between Ambani and Mittal did not go unnoticed.

“As long as you and Ambani continue to refer to each other as friends, industry will be okay,” Rajan Mathews, president of the Cellular Operators Association of India, said, much to the amusement of the audience.